The Seer And The Sith
by princesspomegranate
Summary: Nata-lin did not expect to be storming in on the Jedi High Council, half-dressed, whilst they were already in the middle of something; but when she had a vision of a certain Sith Lord, who knows what the future will hold? Slight AU.
1. Not A Morning Person

She'd woken up to the sounds of the planet that never slept made by the people that never seemed to sleep either. Over the four years she had lived in Coruscant, Nata-lin had never been able to accustom herself to the noise. Everything was so _constant_ in Coruscant.

It never ceased to amaze her that, even though she lived somewhat out of the way of the busiest parts of the sprawling city that had consumed the planet, and instead lived beside the Jedi Temple, the noise and the liveliness of the place never stopped.

Nata-lin pushed the base of her palms into her eyes, trying to purge the sleep from them. Though necessary to ensuring her health, sleeping never seemed to agree with her and Nata-lin would often find herself waking to feel far less refreshed than if she had not slept at all.

With a long huff, she literally threw the blanket covering her away from herself and shuffled out of bed. Her bare feet padded her into the bathroom attached to her room that was fully equipped with everything she could hope to need- except, ironically, a bath.

She wandered over to the sink, resting her hands on the rim of the basin and stared in front of her. Looking into the well-placed mirror, Nata-lin heaved another heavy breath. Her face remained as it always did; pale- almost stark- in complexion, her dark brows were a thin and carefully shaped contrast. Her green eyes were large and above them, the tattooed form of thick black lines on her eyelids almost appeared like a permanent source of make-up.

It was her hair that Nata-lin always hated facing after sleep; she didn't know how it was physically possible, but her usually, relatively straight hair somehow never failed to weave itself into an unkempt bird's nest of mess by the time she woke. Instead of attempting to rip apart the tangles of her hair right away, Nata-lin leaned her head against the reflective glass, resting her forehead on the cool surface.

She was _not_ a morning person. Never had been, never would be. If only she had been born of a species that didn't _require_ sleep, then she would have had to face neither sleep nor that awful morning feeling. What she wouldn't have given for that! But no, she was human- and, unfortunately for her, that meant that she _had_ to sleep. Whatever the case with her sleeping though, Nata-lin had won the genetic lottery in a completely different way.

She wasn't happy with that either though; in fact, Nata-lin was just not a very happy person. However, she could be forgiven her occasional ill-humour and sarcasm with the understanding of what she was.

Being a seer meant knowing too much. Being a seer meant knowing everything and having to choose what to tell. Being a seer meant watching the world change before it even knew that it had a choice. Being a seer was more trouble than it was worth, Nata-lin had always thought.

Slowly pulling back from her position, she picked up a toothbrush and proceeded to use it, removing another annoyance that sleep brought, morning breath. Nata-lin half-glared at her reflection as she brushed her teeth, still pondering on where to start with flattening her dark, unruly hair.

It took half an hour to complete the task of untangling her hair to what Nata-lin thought was a satisfactory level- and still, only just. Finally, she stepped away from the bathroom mirror, glad to not have to stare at her reflected twin any longer. She returned to the room she slept in, on her way, slipping out of the shift she slept in and letting it fall to the floor. She'd pick it up later.

Nata-lin was in no rush to dress, she knew that no one could see into her rooms, so she had no fear of being observed by anyone, even though the curtains of her large windows were not even fully closed. It was one of the perks of helping the Jedi High council. She helped them, and they hid her.

Too many people sought seers- and most of them were of a less than reputable nature. So when a representative of the High Council discovered her for what she was, and when they had offered her the protection that she so craved, Nata-lin could barely stop herself from jumping at the chance. She did, of course, accept, and had been living on Coruscant ever since.

Locating her underwear, Nata-lin dressed, following those items with a pair of loose, material trousers that she was just buttoning up when-

_He came from nowhere- was just there, in front of her- and she didn't dare move. The Dathomirian Zabrak known as Darth Maul, his vivid red skin covered in patterns of black tattoos, stood before her. And she knew from experience that this was really her, and not just a projection of herself on someone else._

_The Sith Lord paced back and forth, his startling eyes never once leaving Nata-lin. She couldn't help but be reminded of a tiger she'd once seen in a zoo on her home world. Beautiful, dangerous and predatory-_

Nata-lin blinked, the vision fading from her mind as quickly as it had come. Her hands fumbled at the buttons she was part way though doing up. As soon as she had finished, Nata-lin turned for the door at top speed and left her room behind. She was in so much trouble and she knew it from even so brief a glimpse into the future as she'd had.

* * *

><p>She was almost out of the door before she realised that she was neither wearing a shirt or shoes. And, as the saying in local bars went, 'No shirt, no shoes, no service', Nata-lin was pretty sure that the Jedi High Council wouldn't be too happy with her turning up half-naked.<p>

With no time to go back to her room, Nata-lin found whatever was closest, which, in this case, turned out to be a material cardigan that had no buttons and she was forced to hold closed, and the first pair of shoes that she came across. She didn't even care that they did not match as she ran outside and straight for the Jedi Temple.

It was a good job for her that she had been granted permanent clearance into the areas she needed to get to quickly, or else she would've found it nigh impossible to get to the Council- particularly in the mad-rush, slightly-crazy state she appeared to be in.

And it was just her luck- and theirs- that the High Council were already gathered. The thought that they might be in the midst of something didn't even cross her mind as she pushed straight through the doors and into the room atop the Southwestern of the five spires of the temple.

"I'm sorry, I had a vision an-" Nata-lin started by way of hurried explanation as she entered the room.

But she cut herself off abruptly as her eyes settled on the assembled party- but, more particularly, the holographic figure that they were assembled around. Seeing the High Council mid-conversation with a Senator that she could not recall the name of was enough to force her to hold her tongue. No one was supposed to know about her visions; that was one of the conditions that she herself had set when she came to Coruscant.

All eyes fixed on her as she stood, a dishevelled mess, just inside the room. For the first time, Nata-lin began to feel a little self-conscious as she noted her appearance, but she quickly dismissed that. And though the Jedi were unable to read her thoughts, another perk of her slight genetic mutation; they could read her emotions.

The fear and shock in her triumphed over her minute embarrassment and she was sure that the Council noticed. Mace Windu, who she was sure had been in the middle of a sentence when she had burst in, turned back to the holographic senator.

"Senator Palpatine, we must finish this conversation another time," he said.

The holographic man smiled, as he replied, "Later, perhaps."

The Senator nodded to the council, and then once to Nata-lin before the image of him flickered out of existence. And, with the Senator gone, the High Council turned to Nata-lin, who cleared her throat, and stepped to the centre of the room.

"I didn't plan to barge in here looking like a half-naked hobo and I hope you'll forgive my intrusion," she said, her eyes focussed on none of them, but instead on flickering outside the glass walls of the room.

"But this is urgent."

"Continue," Shaak Ti said.

"The Sith are back."

She was met with blank stares from the circle of Jedi Masters around her as if it was taking them some time to register the information.

"What?" Mace Windu questioned with a frown.

"That's impossible!" Kit Fisto exclaimed.

"Well, I saw one, so it's not _that_ impossible."

"This cannot be true; you must have made some mistake."

"Agreed. The Sith have been extinct for a millennia," Yarael Poof concurred.

"True or not is not the point; who they are is what matters," Yoda said, stunning the others to silence for a moment.

"You think that her vision is correct?"

Nata-lin couldn't help but chip in with, "I _am _a seer."

"With visions that can be changed," Depa Billaba observed.

"Yes, because _I_ can change the fact that there _is_ a Sith Lord out there... I've had no direct influence on him," Nata-lin replied, rolling her eyes.

"Without the attitude, please," Mace Windu commented.

"I'd rather not be accused of making mistakes then," she bit back quickly.

"Perhaps we could get back to the matter at hand?" Plo Koon suggested.

"Who was the Sith?"

Nata-lin opened her mouth to respond, but, as she tried to explain it to them, she found that no words would come out. It was as if someone or something was blocking her. She frowned, knowing that none of the incredibly powerful Jedi around her would be able to help her either.

A part of her power was that they could not reach into her mind as they could with others. The visions blurred their path and blocked the Force completely. For some reason, she just wasn't going to be able to describe the Sith Lord to the High Council, and because of her visions, they wouldn't be able to see him in her mind either. The situation frustrated her more than anything.

"I... I don't know. I mean, I _know_, but for some reason I can't explain. I can't say his name, not even his race."

"If the Dark side of the Force has remained hidden from us, then they may have found a way to hide themselves even from you revealing them," Ki-Adi-Mundi suggested.

"Your vision, what did it entail?"

"Well, that's the thing; not much really, but..." she paused, running her tongue over her bottom lip as her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"He was standing in front of me-"

"A projection of you onto someone else?" Oppo Rancisis interrupted.

"No, _me_. Really _Me_," she answered with a frown.

"There was something about that vision... It wasn't like my _normal_ visions; it's like... I don't know everything as I should; and I couldn't decipher when or where it is that I am supposed to meet this Sith Lord. I just know that I was on my own- hence the rush in getting here," she finished, shifting the cardigan she wore to cover herself a little better.

"So you think he may have set you as his purpose?"

"It's a possibility; it's not really hard to tell why either. I mean, he obviously wouldn't be after me for my winning personality and charm. The Sith must have found out about my abilities somehow... They wouldn't be the first," Nata-lin concluded with a scowl.

"Which would mean that he would have to be close," Kit Fisto put in.

"Indeed, it would," Yoda concurred, nodding.

"Careful, we must be; and protective also. Within the temple you must stay until reveal themselves the Sith do."

"Themselves? I only saw one," Nata-lin said, confusedly.

"Always two there are. A master and an apprentice."

Nata-lin's brows drew together further at the new information and she replied, "Well that's just _brilliant_."

"The question is which one she saw?"

"Couldn't tell you, 'cus I don't know," Nata-lin answered, frustrated both by the fact that she didn't know what she should and that she was being spoken about like she wasn't present.

There was a moments silence that was broken only by a slight change of subject.

"Protection you must have," Yoda said, nodding seemingly to himself.

Mace Windu nodded too and proceeded to arrange a guard to accompany Nata-lin to her rooms so that she might be able to dress herself properly and collect a few other things. Nata-lin bowed to the High Council and left the room as her own personal Jedi bodyguard appeared to collect her.

She knew that the Council were far from through with discussing the information she had just given them, but it seemed that she was not supposed to hear what they said next. It didn't really matter to Nata-lin; they did that so often when she told them of a vision she'd had, what should be the difference now, especially when she could be of no help.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: If you've actually bothered to read this far, Hi! :) I've had an idea for this story in my head since the re-release of The Phantom Menace, and I finally got around to writing some of it. Hope you liked it and will let me know what you think! :)<strong>

**Kit xx**


	2. Going Slightly Mad

Nata-lin looked curiously at the man leading her way for a moment. She'd never met the man, and he didn't introduce himself, so all that Nata-lin knew about her temporary protector was that he was human and a Jedi. _Well done, Captain Obvious_, she chastised herself, as he escorted her through the temple she had not so long ago run through.

Going back was actually much more embarrassing than when she'd entered the building, because everyone had already seen her odd clothes and frenzied state and were aware enough to take notice when she passed again.

In fact, Nata-lin wasn't too fond of the suggestion, or more like command, that she remain in the Jedi temple. The place had an odd feel in her opinion, which was fine for little visits, but to _live_ there? No; the temple was a place for Jedi, not for her kind. She did not belong there; though it _was _still the safest place that she knew she could find for herself. She just had to compromise, she supposed.

Everyone had always wanted to use her for her talent and they never cared about her safety. In the past, she had been treated as a slave by those who thought that they could trap and own her, using her to achieve their own desires. And their desires were many. She'd been beaten and even almost been raped on a number of occasions, but, by some twist of the universe, she had always escaped that fate.

That was before the Jedi had found her, and before they had taken her away from that life. After she'd agreed to leave with them, and to help them where she could in matters that would need the Light side of the Force to be resolved, Nata-lin learned so much.

The Jedi taught her to focus her abilities, so that she might be able to more efficiently decipher her visions and control them better. Her visions still came to her sporadically however and when she was experiencing them, she was blind to the world around her, but she'd understood far more about them since she'd been with the Jedi than she had known to beforehand.

A cough from in front of her snapped her out of her thoughts and Nata-lin looked up at her temporary guard. He was gesturing to the door of her rooms as a cue for her to open it; of course, he didn't need to, but it was just common courtesy.

She smiled, though she didn't quite understand how she'd gotten quite so lost in thought to not realise that they'd walked all the way back to her rooms so quickly. She opened the door and followed the man inside; he clearly felt there was no danger, so Nata-lin wasn't cautious as she walked behind him.

"I'll wait here while you gather your things. Don't bother changing here, you can do that in the temple. The less time we are here, the safer you will be."

Nata-lin nodded once to the Jedi and headed straight for her room. She wasn't really one for fashion, so she literally threw any clothes that she could find into the first bag that she could find. Then she went for her toothbrush and hairbrush, finding a few other essential things that she also chucked haphazardly into the bag.

The only thing that she bothered to place in the bag carefully was her viol. The bag wasn't too heavy when she finally picked it up, but she held it with both hands because she didn't want to risk dropping it, not with her favourite, easily-breakable, instrument inside.

She had had the viol for years going back far enough that she had acquired it whilst still living in the town she was born in. Since she had been on Coruscant, she had become quite a proficient due to the fact that she rarely went anywhere apart from her rooms and the Jedi temple.

She glanced quickly at her unmade bed before turning from the room. _Guess it's going to stay unmade for a while_, she thought._ Oh well._ Nata-lin headed down the stairs quickly, and noticed the Jedi Knight, still at the foot of the stairs, turn his face away from her as she came down the stairs. He coughed as she stopped in front of him and she just stared at him in confusion, still holding the bag with both hands.

"Your shirt," he replied, still looking away from her.

Nata-lin looked down at herself and finally noticed what the Jedi was talking about. The cardigan that she had before remembered to hold together was hanging open because she'd used both hands to carry her bag.

"Oops," she said, taking one hand off her bag and using it to close the gap in the material.

"Ah well; can't be helped though, _you_ told me not to change 'til later."

The expression on the Jedi Knight's face as he turned back to her was less than amused.

"Come, we must return to the temple."

Rolling her eyes, Nata-lin muttered, "_Of_ _course_, we do."

* * *

><p>After five weeks in the Jedi temple, Nata-lin had had no new visions. She had simply been continuously plagued by the same one; yet she could glean no more information from it nor reveal any to the High Council. And after five weeks in the Jedi temple, it was safe to say that Nata-lin was going a little bit crazy.<p>

She was almost climbing the walls for a chance to be outside, but her bodyguard, who's name she had learnt was Borkat Shsur, was having none of it. She'd tried everything from asking politely to trying to annoy the crap out of him, but still he would not budge on the thought.

So Nata-lin devised a plan to get herself out of the temple, even if just for a few hours. She could think without the Jedi knowing anything of it as they could with normal people; it was definitely one of the benefits she'd found in being a seer. So Borkat was blissfully unaware that she was planning a little outing to her favourite local bar until after he'd discovered her room empty with a small note that read,

"_Sorry, had to get out, back in a few hours. Sorry._

_Nata-lin._

_PS. Sorry again, you can yell at me later."_

Borkat had no idea how Nata-lin had managed to get out of the temple without his knowledge, but he was determined to find out as soon as he found her. He had a good idea of where to start looking from her constant appeals to him to let her visit these places.

He left the room in a hurry. He knew that he had to find her before the Sith did; because, knowing his luck, they would find her in the brief time she'd been away from the temple. _How could she be so stupid?_ he wondered as he began his search.

* * *

><p>Though Nata-lin had been bothering Borkat about letting her go to one of the local bars, on her escape from the Jedi temple she had headed straight for the nearest cafe. As much as she missed the atmosphere of the local bars- not to mention the company- Nata-lin missed coffee far more.<p>

The Jedi weren't big on caffeine, or any other addictive substances, and Nata-lin had been suffering from withdrawal symptoms for the weeks she'd been virtually locked up inside the temple. So instead of turning to where she usually would, Nata-lin went straight for her caffeine fix.

Thankfully, she'd already had a tab opened up in the cafe, so she didn't have to worry about the fact that she'd left all her money in her rooms. So Nata-lin sat in the corner of the cafe, with her back only to a wall on either side. It was her usual place when she frequented the cafe, though no one could figure out why.

It was dark and uncomfortable- but that was just what Nata-lin liked about it. In her little corner, no one could sneak up on her and no one could watch her- which was perfect if she ever fell into a vision whilst there. Nata-lin started stirring the large, hot coffee in her hand with her index finger, watching the cafe's other patrons with careful interest.

She knew she'd been stupid and risked all too much in leaving the Jedi temple; but as she'd always thought, the temple was a place for Jedi, not for her. Nata-lin had felt caged inside it, regardless of what free reign they had given her to wander almost all of the temple. It was knowing that she couldn't go outside that had made Nata-lin want to tempt fate, even if just for a few hours and a cup of coffee.

Nata-lin also had a feeling that Borkat was not going to be happy with her at all, and since he would think it his duty to inform the High Council of her short absence, neither would they. She frowned at thought; it wasn't particularly fair that they could be unhappy with her for taking a couple of hours after she'd spent five weeks living what she thought was almost a half life.

Nata-lin's eyes flickered up to the door as it slid opened, the telltale whoosh sound that it made a dead giveaway. She wasn't really all that surprised to see Borkat standing in the doorway until he caught sight of her. Then he was in front of her in a second.

"What do you think you are doing?" he asked, his voice forcibly hushed.

Rolling her eyes slightly, Nata-lin replied, "I had to get out of there; I've been nagging you for weeks-"

"Do you have any idea how stupid this is? Coming here, _alone?_" Borkat interrupted her.

"Well, I would've brought you but you didn't want to come..." she reminded him in a sing-song-like voice.

"Don't be ridiculous. Get up, we're going back to the temple, you can explain all this when we get there."

With a long sigh, and a regretful last sip of the coffee she'd waited five weeks to drink, Nata-lin stood and followed Borkat out of the coffee shop. It had been a short but sweet little escape from the temple and she wished that it wasn't over so quickly, but she knew that if she didn't follow him willingly, then Borkat was more than likely to just throw her over his shoulder and carry her back anyway.

"How could you be so stupid?" Borkat muttered as they walked away.

"This would be the perfect time and place for the Sith to attack and, thanks to you, you would be defenceless."

"I know, I know, you just don't underst-" Nata-lin cut herself off before reaching the end of sentence.

Borkat knew why immediately, even though his back was to her. Nata-lin had stopped dead in the middle of the street, and was now staring vacantly ahead of them. Being around her for five weeks, Borkat had become accustomed to her visions and how they made her freeze regardless of what she was doing. Once, she had even been standing on a ladder, retrieving a book from a high shelf in the temple's library when she had experienced a vision, leading her to fall and him to have to catch her.

Quickly, Borkat picked Nata-lin up and carried her over to a dark alleyway, away from the people that might stare and wonder at Nata-lin's behaviour. He knew that her visions never usually took that long, so he didn't see the point in trying to carry her all the way back to the temple, only to have her 'wake' and kick up a fuss that he was carrying her- like she had in the aforementioned library incident. He just hoped that this wouldn't cost them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: If you're reading this, then hey. :) Sorry for the Queen inspired title, apparently '<em>I'm<em> going slightly mad' now too from listening to that song on repeat... Ah well, there are worse things to have stuck in your head than Queen. :) Anyway, enough rambling... Hope you liked the chapter! :) Please do let me know what you think. :)**

**Kit xx**


	3. The Consequences Of Mistakes

_ He was there; the Sith. He came from nowhere- was just there, in front of her- and she didn't dare move. The Dathomirian Zabrak known as Darth Maul, his vivid red skin covered in patterns of black tattoos, stood before her._

_ The Sith Lord paced back and forth, his startling eyes never once leaving Nata-lin. She couldn't help but be reminded of a tiger she'd once seen in a zoo on her home world. Beautiful, dangerous and predatory._

_ There was something different, she noticed. Two, dark and dirty walls loomed at either side of them, like a cavern made of metallic buildings. This time they weren't alone either, this time a body joined them, though it took a minute for her to see the face. Borkat. She caught the wicked-looking grin on the face of the Sith Lord. It was obvious to both of them; he had won-_

Nata-lin snapped out of her vision to find, not Darth Maul, but the still-alive Borkat, standing directly in front of her. He backed off a little as soon as she had blinked out of her immobile state, but frowned at the look she was giving him. It was like she'd seen a ghost.

"What is it?" he asked quickly.

Nata-lin blinked and looked around to see that they were standing in the eerily familiar alleyway from her vision. She tried to tell Borkat of what she'd seen, but she couldn't. Just like with her other visions, she could say nothing about Darth Maul.

"Run; _now_," was all that she managed to get out.

Luckily, Borkat's instincts were good enough to catch on to what she meant and he took hold of her upper arm, pulling her away from the wall he'd leant her against. The two of them had just turned for the end of the alleyway that they were nearest to when Borkat stopped. And as his hand went straight for his lightsaber, Nata-lin tensed.

Everything felt wrong, like it did in her visions about the Sith Lord; so Nata-lin wasn't surprised when she heard the telltale '_fsshhhwuuuummm'_, as she liked to describe it, of a lightsaber being drawn from the other end of the alley. She turned and saw that Borkat already had his own, blue lightsaber drawn also.

That was when she saw him, the creature that had stalked her visions. The dark figure that always eluded her everywhere else. Darth Maul, in the flesh. Nata-lin gasped. The Sith's face was mostly covered by the dark hood, but she could tell it was the figure from her visions. She just _knew_; everything down to his posture proved it.

"I take it that's him then," Borkat said, finally releasing Nata-lin's arm.

She nodded, momentarily unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Go; get back to the temple," he ordered.

When Nata-lin didn't move, he repeated himself, but she ignored him once more and simply whispered, "If you die, I won't make it far anyway. There's no point running."

Borkat gave her a look that made it clear that he disagreed with that assumption. But since she was a seer, and she'd just had a vision, how could he disagree? Unfortunately, Nata-lin knew that she knew the outcome of the duel between Borkat and the Sith Lord. Though Borkat was an incredibly talented Jedi Knight, Darth Maul was better; the only one that didn't know that was Borkat.

"Sorry I left," she whispered, as both Jedi stepped forward.

"Apologise when we get back to the temple," he shot back, not taking his eyes away from the Sith.

Borkat's optimism was encouraging, or it would have been to anyone that wasn't a seer and hadn't already seen that he was wrong. Nata-lin just stared sadly at his back as he and the Sith moved closer together. She hated the noise the lightsabers made as they clashed together and she closed her eyes against the sight of the fight that was only happening because she was stupid enough to think a couple of hours out of the temple was worth the risk.

Now achieving her little caffeine fix was going to get Borkat killed and her... well Nata-lin didn't know what would happen to her, but it wasn't likely to be pleasant. She hoped that it wouldn't turn out the way she had seen it; but hope was all she had at this point. And it was futile in the face of her visions.

The sound of fighting stopped quickly; far more quickly than she would have thought. And Nata-lin didn't even want to open her eyes out of fear that the victor would be the Sith Lord. She heard a lightsaber being deactivated, but the lack of any noise other than footsteps coming towards her made her realise that Borkat would have said something; Darth Maul must have won. _Fuck,_ she thought, cursing herself for being the reason that this had happened.

With a frown already creasing her features, Nata-lin slowly opened her eyes. She knew what to expect, and, sadly for her, her assumption had been correct. Green eyes opened to the vision she'd seen so many times. The Sith Lord that had taunted her in visions that she could never use to reveal him, was now taunting her in person. And the wicked grin she'd seen in her latest vision flashed across his expression, disappearing almost as soon as it had come, as he took notice of her fear.

Just like in her visions, he was in front of her as if he had appeared from nowhere, and she was frozen. She knew that it was no Jedi mind trick holding her there either, because she was virtually immune to them. That meant that it was purely fear that stopped her from moving away from Darth Maul. _Fan-fucking-tastic._

Nata-lin could literally feel his eyes boring into her as he paced back and forth in front of her. She had been right in her initial assertion of him being beautiful, dangerous and predatory; but that made her feel no better with him standing in front of her. It gave her no comfort to know that she had been able to judge his character correctly from her visions.

She didn't know what to say- or if she should even say anything at all. What would happen now, Nata-lin didn't know either. How much she would have given for a vision right then! She was such an idiot; and she well knew it. It was only now that the consequences of her mistake were catching up with her though. It was her own fault that she'd ended up in this situation, and it was her fault that Borkat had died trying to protect her.

_Why did I have to come outside?_ she chastised herself, trying not to let her stupidity and the awfulness of the situation she'd put herself in overwhelm her. _Why am I such an arsehole?_ _Why couldn't I have just stayed where I was? None of this would have happened. _For a seer, she didn't really have much foresight.

"What now?" she whispered, not knowing what to say.

She had known that he was coming for her- had known it for over a month- and he must've known it too; but she could only guess at his intentions now. And the way he was looking at her, so predator-likes from beneath his hood, was not making her feel any better about things.

"Come," was all that he said, his voice deep.

The Sith Lord turned to walk in the opposite direction, not even waiting for a response and simply expecting her compliance. But Nata-lin didn't move an inch; she didn't even blink. For some reason, his command didn't register properly in her mind, so she stayed exactly where she was. And that was why Darth Maul paused, when he heard no footsteps behind him.

He didn't even turn as he half-growled, "I could make you."

The menace in his threat was enough to send a chill up Nata-lin's spine. Swallowing the lump growing in her throat, she couldn't see what else to do. So she took a step forward; a step nearer to the Sith Lord. Seemingly satisfied that she was going to follow him, Darth Maul continued, still, not once, looking behind him.

Nata-lin trailed after him, uncomfortably wrapping her arms around herself. A pang hit her as she had to step around the body of the Jedi that had almost been her friend; the man that she had gotten killed because of her own stupidity. The man that had died trying to protect her.

It was all her fault, and she didn't even have time to shed tears over the needless loss of life. As she continued to walk, leaving a reasonable space between her and the Sith Lord, she couldn't help but hate herself. Nata-lin scowled; why had she taken such a chance for a stupid cup of coffee? Why hadn't she told him to run and leave her (even though she knew that he never would have agreed to such a thing)? She might as well have just killed Borkat herself for all the blame she was piling onto herself; she knew that it was her fault though. It _was_.

Nata-lin looked up to see Darth Maul was walking in front of her as if he knew that she would follow without question. The sight gave her an idea. If she could just get away while he thought she was complying with him. She had no chance at escaping when he was looking at her- if he could read the signs in her movements- but when he walked with his back to her like this... There might be a chance.

How easy it would be for her just to run from the Sith Lord. He wouldn't see it coming at all, and that was her only advantage- just as it was her only chance. She understood that. And maybe she could make it back to the temple this time, when he wasn't watching her. _Maybe_.

Nata-lin also understood that she had a limited amount of time to get away; until end of the alley, she guessed. If she could make it back to the other side of the alley before he could reach her then her chances of escaping would increase tenfold.

There would be other people outside the alley- and then even if she did get caught, maybe someone would recognise her and inform the Jedi council of what had happened. She was pretty sure that the Council would be able to guess anyway when they discovered she was missing and someone found Borkat's body; but... trying was better than doing nothing, wasn't it?

As Darth Maul was nearing the end of the alley, she knew that she had to try immediately, or she'd never get the chance. Taking a deep breath, Nata-lin steeled herself for the task at hand. In one quick movement, she turned and started running in the opposite direction, determined in a last ditch effort to put as much distance between her and the Sith Lord as possible.

Nata-lin knew that she was fast; she'd spent a lot of time running in the past. She just wasn't sure if she could be fast _enough_ though; she had no idea how quickly the Sith Lord could run, but she was betting that she'd have to be faster than she ever had been before to get away from him.

With a tiny glance at Borkat, Nata-lin hurdled over his body, well-aware that Darth Maul must have noticed that she was not following him anymore. But she couldn't hear his footsteps with how loud her heart was beating. That was why she hadn't at all seen, or heard for that matter, it coming when the Sith Lord vaulted over her so that he landed straight in front of her path.

She didn't even have time to stop herself before she collided with his body and felt strong hands reach out to grab her. It took her a moment to realise what had happened, but that moment cost her. Nata-lin struggled but found it exceedingly hard to even squirm in the increasingly tight, iron grip of her captor.

"No, no- let go of me!" she burst out, still trying to free herself.

Her back thumped against the side of the building that formed one wall of the alley and she felt her head smack backward too. Nata-lin groaned, just thankful that she hadn't hit her head too hard on the impact. The fact that it hurt though, was _not_ the worst of her problems. She hadn't been expecting the Sith Lord to do something like that- but then, clearly, she didn't know what to expect from the Zabrak.

But she stared at him defiantly as she hissed, "Let me go."

Darth Maul stared at Nata-lin from beneath his hood, where she could just about see his eyes. She couldn't stop glaring as soon as she saw them because, in truth, they were beautiful- but, more than anything, frightening. A bright yellow, ringed by a border of red on the outside, she had never seen their like- except, of course, in her visions. But they could never be compared to the real thing. His glare was, quite frankly, terrifying.

"I thought you were smarter than that," was all that Darth Maul said as he stared her down.

Swallowing the lump growing in her throat, Nata-lin spat back, "They know. The Jedi Council, they _know_- I told them everything."

The Sith Lord's lips curled upward at the corners, much to Nata-lin's surprise. _Is he- is he _smiling_?_ she thought, confused. _Shouldn't he be afraid or something?_ But that was when she realised; she wasn't dealing with someone who was just trying to kidnap her- she was dealing with a Sith. _They're so twisted and sick; maybe he _does_ think this is funny_, she thought briefly, still not taking her eyes from her captor.

"Good," he answered simply, tilting his head to the side as the small smile faded.

"It's about time they figured out that we exist."


	4. Intimidated And Violated

Shortly after Darth Maul had pinned Nata-lin against the side of the alley in a display of force that made it obvious that she wasn't going to be able to escape him, he half-dragged her back down to the mouth of the alley that she had run from. This time though, one of his hands had remained shackled to her arm, ensuring that she got no more ideas about running.

As it turned out, Darth Maul had left a small ship at the end of the alley; but it was no consolation to Nata-lin that she had been right about that being her only chance to escape. Not since she'd so failed in the attempt.

There was no one around to see him push her inside the ship, his captive. And no one around to see them disappear, leaving the body of her sadly defeated protector behind in the alley.

Darth Maul left her in a tiny, windowless room of the small ship. _Clearly_ she wasn't supposed to know where they were going. With a sigh, Nata-lin looked around the room. It was basic, and, by that, she meant _really_ basic. The only thing in the room was one ledge protruding from a wall, that Nata-lin assumed must have been an attempt at a seat, or even a bed.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a cell. Which worked perfectly, she supposed, because, like it or not, she was now Darth Maul's prisoner. Nata-lin perched on the edge of the possible-bed, rested her elbows on her knees and dropped her head into her hands. She wasn't the crying type, so no tears fell as she sat there; but she _was_ the depressive, angry type.

_How did I let this happen?_ she scolded herself. _How could I be so stupid?_ And, while she chastised and ridiculed herself for everything idiotic she'd done that led her to this situation, a small part of Nata-lin told her that she deserved to be where she was. That she deserved to be a prisoner to this Sith Lord.

Nata-lin groaned. Shouldn't being a seer have meant that she should know what to expect of this imprisonment? Nata-lin thought so anyway. But she knew from past experience that it was impossible to force herself to have a vision, no matter how hard she tried. And even if she could have done, there would be no guarantee that the vision would even be about her.

With _her_ luck, it would be something about a Saurin crisis on Durkteel, millions of light years away from her- and, yes, it would be something she'd wish to change or stop- however, having a vision like that while she was trapped by Darth Maul was no use to anyone.

Nata-lin noticed that the ship they were in had taken off; and they'd, in fact, been flying for some time- or so she'd thought; without a window it was hard to tell. _Where is he taking me?_ she wondered, but she didn't have to be a seer to know that she'd not get an answer if she asked Darth Maul.

She shrugged to herself and only then noticed the slight pain in her arms. She looked down at them, to the places where Darth Maul's hands had formed manacles over them. Already, her pale skin was red and showing signs that it would bruise. _Great_, she thought sarcastically. _He's had me for about twenty minutes and I'm already getting hurt... This is promising._

Nata-lin knew what it felt like to be captured; and she knew what it felt like for her captor to think that they were supposed to have complete control over her. She knew how it felt to be a slave. And she was apt enough to notice the signs when she saw them. She could only hope that she was wrong.

Nata-lin was left alone in that room for quite some time longer, and when Darth Maul returned, she had shifted on her uncomfortable perch and was now sat cross-legged with her back resting against the wall behind her. As the door slid open, her eyes flashed to him. Neither of them spoke a word for a moment; they just stared.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

As she had expected, Nata-lin received no answer. In fact, not only did Darth Maul ignore her question completely, he stepped further into the room, stopping only when his legs hit the ledge Nata-lin was sat on. With him directly in front of her again, Nata-lin couldn't help but look away from him slightly. _He's so..._ intimidating_,_ she thought, glad, once again, that her thoughts could not be read.

"Stand."

The command was given quietly, but Nata-lin heard it well enough. She looked up to the Sith Lord, who's proximity to her was stifling. She didn't even try asking him to move, and instead attempted to shift herself around him to step off of the ledge. But as soon as she started to move, he stopped her.

"No. Where you are."

She stared at him, confused. _He could _try_ making sense,_ she frowned to herself. She wanted to say something, but Nata-lin knew that she had to pick her battles. The best choice she had would be to act compliant now so that she had a better chance to escape later.

Her frown not lessening, Nata-lin stood. Somehow the intimidation levels radiating from him didn't lessen as she stood, even though she was now effectively taller than him. In fact, it was almost worse that she still felt so vulnerable like that.

And she felt even more threatened when his hands reached out and took hold of her hips, his fingers running lightly under the edge of her shirt. At that she could help but jerk sharply back away from the Sith Lord- so quickly that she smacked her head against the wall behind her.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, _woah_. What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her cheeks reddening.

Darth Maul didn't even look up at her. Somehow he had managed to keep hold of her and he didn't stop in his ministrations as he lightly touched his fingers over the skin of her stomach, moving on to one arm and then another.

"As appealing as you may think yourself, do not think that is my intention," he replied, feeling her panic and rising embarrassment.

Her breath slowed slightly as she scowled at the Sith Lord and his fingers that were roving over her body all too much for her liking.

"Well what _are_ you doing then?"

Darth Maul did not answer her, he just continued with his virtual frisk of her. _Could've at least bought me dinner first_, she grumbled to herself, more than slightly disgruntled that he was basically feeling her up. Especially when he forcefully turned her around so that her she had to push against the wall to avoid smacking her face into the wall.

Nata-lin scowled and turned her head to try and see what he was doing, as his fingers now traced over her back. He paused when his hand brushed over a tiny lump on the skin of her back at the base of her spine. She barely had time to react as Darth Maul pushed her closer against the wall, and she could feel herself beginning to panic.

The feeling was made no better when Nata-lin watched the Zabrak reach into a fold of his dark robes and pull out a small knife. She didn't even know that those that used the force _used_ normal weapons like knives. She always thought, if you had a lightsaber, what would be the point? But that wasn't really the right thing to go through her mind when he withdrew that small weapon, and she knew it.

"What are you _doing_?" she asked, her tone shrill with fear.

"Do not move," Darth Maul replied.

"_Like_ _hell!_ You feel me up and now you're waving a knife at me- _fat chance_ I'm going to stay still!"

"If you don't stay still there is a chance that I could damage your spinal cord. It makes no difference to me; your being able to walk does not affect my plans."

Nata-lin blinked, her mouth hanging open slightly. She had no idea what he was doing, but as she felt the knife break her skin, Nata-lin was sure that she wasn't going to move a muscle. It hurt though, whatever he was doing. It hurt a lot. She bit her lip so hard in an attempt to keep still that she started to taste blood.

The fact that it hurt seemed to fade into the back of her mind though, when she saw him take out the knife quickly. But it wasn't that that distracted her, it was the tiny, what looked like _mechanical_, object that he pulled out along with it.

"What the...? What the fuck is that?"

Nata-lin watched as Darth Maul dropped the minute object to the floor and crush it beneath his boot. She turned around and climbed down to inspect whatever the broken thing was that Darth Maul had just found beneath her skin, ignoring the twinge of pain from the still-open wound in her back.

"What _is_ that?" she asked again.

"It seems your Jedi friends sought some insurance in keeping you," Darth Maul replied with no readable expression.

She stared at the broken object for a moment before she realised what it was. A tracking device. She didn't even know that they'd done that. And, staring at the tiny tracking device, Nata-lin couldn't help but feel a little violated. _Did they really think they'd need this? Did they really think I'd try to leave the temple after we'd made our agreement?_

"Come," Darth Maul said simply.

She looked up at him for a second, slowly standing up. As she stood next to him, Nata-lin still couldn't hold back that nervous feeling. It still felt to her that he was likely to lash out at her at any second- that he'd just gouged a hole in her back wasn't making her feel any better about the situation either.

"Where?" she asked tentatively.

"So many questions," was his only answer.

Darth Maul merely took hold of her wrist and pulled her after him, out into the corridor beyond.


	5. To Be Reminded Of Before

Darth Maul led her through the small ship to another room with another sliding door. It whooshed open, and Nata-lin couldn't help but be a little surprised at the contents of the room. She blinked, twice, looking around at the simple medical room. This was _not_ where she'd thought that he was taking her. Nata-lin didn't know what she had been expecting- she just knew that this wasn't it.

He half-dragged her to an examination table in the centre of the room. Nata-lin didn't even see it coming when his grasp left her arm only to enclose around her waist. She sucked in a sharp breath as Darth Maul lifted her onto the table, and only let it out when his strong fingers released her, after he'd settled her in the place he wanted her.

Nata-lin's eyes followed him as he moved swiftly away toward some metallic drawers which he then proceeded to sift through. She found herself again surprised when he withdrew a roll of bandages. They were clearly meant for the wound he'd made in her back; but, personally, she hadn't thought it was that bad.

It didn't _feel_ that bad. She'd had worse anyway and not had it bandaged before. Then again, _before_ wasn't exactly the best model that she could have wanted to measure this situation on. But if Darth Maul felt like bandaging the wound he'd made, who was she to complain? At least she knew she wasn't likely to die from an infected wound. _Fab_, she thought, frowning to herself. _I'm already thinking of being here that long..._

She hadn't seen the other thing Maul had pulled out of the drawer along with the bandage as he'd quite skilfully kept it hidden from her view. It wasn't until the last moment of her eyes following his movements that she saw what he was lifting up her shirt to put against her skin.

"Hey, wait- _stop_- what the- _OW_."

Nata-lin scowled at the Sith Lord as he pulled the small object away from her. The sharp stab she'd felt in her back confirmed to her that it was some sort of needle. She just couldn't figure out why he was jabbing one into her skin.

"Why did you just do that? Scratch that, _what_ did you just do?"

Darth Maul gave her a unimpressed glance. He was starting to become very irritated by her constant enquiring and annoying... well, _voice_ even. The amount she was questioning him was definitely grating on him. But he answered her anyway. It wouldn't do to have her suspecting things.

"It will clean the wound from the inside."

He didn't mention the fact that he'd also inserted his own tracking device into her; just as a measure of insurance. The seer hadn't realised that the Jedi had planted one on her, so Maul was relatively certain that the human wouldn't figure out what he had just done either.

"Oh, right..."

"Lift your arms," Maul commanded.

Nata-lin did so, noting the tone of his voice. She was pretty sure that he'd have just lifted her arms up anyway if she hadn't complied. The Sith Lord held her shirt up and swiftly began wrapping the bandage around her, unravelling it from its roll. When he felt it had sufficiently covered the wound, he tied a knot, securing it there.

"Thanks... I guess," Nata-lin murmured.

Darth Maul circled around the table, only stopping when he was directly in front of her. Then he simply stared at her, his sharp eyes focussed intently on her. It was starting to make her feel slightly uncomfortable; and she pulled her arms down awkwardly, feeling her shirt fall with them. He nodded once to her, the gesture sharp and even more unsettling.

"So... what am I supposed to call you?" she asked, searching for a way to end the prolonged silence.

He stared at her for a moment. Again_ with the questions_, he thought, wondering at why she thought it so necessary to have her wonderings consistently answered for her.

"I mean, I know your name, but... Do I just call you Darth Maul, or what?"

"Master."

"What?" she frowned, not quite sure that she'd correctly caught what he'd said.

"Master," he repeated.

"That is what you will call me."

Nata-lin blinked at him and said, "Master? That's being a bit presumptuous, isn't it?"

He glowered at her with those piercing eyes that demanded to be taken seriously.

"We are not Jedi. We are Sith; and we command respect. You will show it."

She blinked again. _Great, he _is_ going to be one of those_, she thought, dreading what was to come. Nata-lin didn't want to go back to being a slave to whoever tried to own her. She didn't _want_ to be owned. It wasn't _right_. She was supposed to be free. And she wasn't supposed to have to call _anyone_ 'Master'. Not again.

Nata-lin couldn't take her eyes off of the Sith Lord from then on. He was pacing again, like the room and the tiny ship were too small for him. Like he was a predator trapped in a cage. And he was looking at her too- staring. It was more than unnerving to be locked in a silent staring competition like that and they'd spent so long in silence that Nata-lin jumped at the sound of his voice.

"You are immune to mind tricks?" he said.

Her hand flew up to her chest in shock, but she managed to calm herself quickly. He hadn't made a move toward her after all, though she'd half been expecting it. Nata-lin didn't think that it really sounded like a question but she nodded anyway- even though that might not have been entirely truthful.

She was _mostly _immune to Jedi mind tricks; there were a few, and she didn't know why, that worked upon her. It wasn't even like they were the same ones either; just sometimes, she couldn't resist as she normally would. She'd never really understood it.

"You are wrong."

Nata-lin blinked.

"I'm what?"

"You are wrong," he repeated.

"I heard you; but how would _you_ know that?"

"Aside from the fact that you are a very obvious liar; why else do you think that you would have so stupidly left the Jedi Temple?"

"That was- that was _your_ doing?" she asked, not quite believing what he was saying.

He gave a single nod in reply to which she could only frown at.

"But... but how? I don't underst-"

Darth Maul cut in to her sentence, interrupting before she could finish, "If I revealed that then you might learn how to better control yourself."

Nata-lin stared at him, open-mouthed. It had been _him_ that had brought her out of the temple- not her own impulsive actions. And she now knew that it was because he knew a way around the security blanket that she'd always held close in regards to the Jedi. This was bad news, she knew; but a small part of her couldn't help but feel better that it was not entirely her fault that Borkat was killed.

"If you could make me leave then why didn't you take me earlier then?" Nata-lin asked.

"I could have taken you at _any_ time. I wanted to judge the Jedi as your carer; he was doing well until he let you slip through his fingers so easily. I was waiting for him to come for you. I was waiting to teach him his mistake for being such a poor guardian of you, little seer."

"He wasn't... He wasn't a poor guardian. It was me..." she replied mumbling, her eyes now trained on the floor.

Maul shook his head.

"You told the Jedi council about me and yet the only protection they gave you was that poorly-trained human," he virtually sneered.

"He was _not_ poorly-trained! He was a good man," Nata-lin it back.

"That died quickly because of his poor training."

Her eyes flashed at him as she sat, still on the examination table, stewing in silence.

"It's interesting that they would underestimate us so," Maul said quietly.

He didn't even appear to be talking to her; just making a note to himself. But Nata-lin was spending her energy focussing on the fact that he'd just said '_us'_. In fact, when she thought about it, Darth Maul had also said it when she'd revealed that the Jedi council knew about him.

She stayed frozen in place, her fingers curling over the rim of the table. It was the first time that realised there was definitively more than one Sith in the galaxy. She just hoped that it was as Yoda had said, a master and an apprentice. And that there weren't any more lurking beyond where even her visions could reach. One was bad enough, two she would _have _to handle, but any more?

She tried to repress a shudder at the thought, though she knew that Darth Maul wouldn't miss the tiny movement. All she saw was the corner of his lips turn upward a little as his eyes- those beautiful, striking, dangerous eyes- trailed over her.

"I can feel your fear," he said.

And that only made her feel all the worse.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long after that that the Sith Lord took her back to that small room he'd put her in before, still revelling, it seemed, in her fear. She glanced down at the floor, quickly noticing that the little metallic tracker that he'd removed from under her skin was gone, though she didn't know how. Darth Maul had been with her the entire time. <em>Unless there's someone else on the ship...<em>

She didn't really dwell on the thought. What would it really matter if there _was_ someone else on the ship? She was still stuck. Darth Maul left swiftly, the door swooshing closed behind him. Nata-lin blinked, a thought hitting her. _Was_ she really as stuck as she thought?

Nata-lin went over to the door, trying her best to get it open; but also knowing it was pointless. After her first few attempts, she gave up and went to sit down on the protruding ledge. A grimace creased her features as she realised the futility of trying to escape. Just now, at least.

She supposed, as she had before, that this was supposed to be her cell. Looking around the room for the second time that day, she saw nothing new. And she hated the four walls more so than she had before. White with a metallic sheen. Nata-lin scowled at them as if it would make a difference. _No_. She was still locked in here until her captor let her out.

Frowning even more deeply, she lay down on the ledge, swinging her legs up onto it. _Why did I ever leave the temple?_ she thought, closing her eyes and praying for a sleep that she knew wasn't likely to come. _Stupid freaking mind tricks... _She didn't know how long she'd been there, restlessly trying to forget her day and the awfulness that came with it. But she knew that it had to be quite some time.

In the end, Nata-lin went back to trying her old fallback; her faithful standby- lying under the bed- or _ledge_ in this case. It was a habit that she'd developed for purely safety conscious purposes. One that had proved useful in the past. And one that proved its worth yet again when it led her to a dreamless, yet agitated, slumber.

* * *

><p>Hours after he left her there, Darth Maul returned to collect Nata-lin. He had not expected to find her asleep. Perhaps hiding at the side of the door, ready to rush at him in an attempt to attack him and escape; but sleeping? And under the ledge instead of on top of it?<p>

Nata-lin did not wake when the door closed behind the Sith Lord, so he continued to stare at her, curious as to the human seer's curious position. Why she was on the floor, he had no idea. She was a strange being. But she would be one of _great_ use to him and his master.

She stirred, almost seeming to unconsciously sense that she was being stared at in her sleep. A hand came up to rub at her eyes, which soon opened blearily. It appeared to take Nata-lin some time to realise where she was- and who was with her, but as soon as she did, she pushed herself onto her hands and knees quickly. Too quickly though, because she jarred her head against the ledge she had chosen to sleep under instead of on top of.

"Ow," she said, wincing in pain at her self-induced injury.

Nata-lin crawled out from under the ledge and stood up in front of him awkwardly. Her hair had become strange, Maul noticed, though she didn't seem to. It was large and somehow puffed out, knotting into itself in places. Perhaps this was how it normally looked and he'd taken her on a day she'd done something to it. She was strange. But she soon caught sight of where his eyes went and scowled at him.

"Hey! Not everyone has perfect hair _all_ the time, you know? Well, you wouldn't because you don't have hair, but-"

He cleared his throat, interrupting her rant as she dug herself a hole to be buried in. A figurative one, this time.

"What?" she asked, staring at him after he said nothing following his strategic cough.

"Come," he ordered her, turning to leave.

Again_ with the 'come' and then nothing?_ Nata-lin thought, seeing no other option than to follow him out of the room. As she traipsed after the Sith Lord, wondering where he would lead her to next, she couldn't help but think that at least she'd be away from those four walls.


End file.
